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Dwarves
Dwarves are a short stocky race of humanoids, who live in large cities usually under mountains and spend their time mining, brewing, smithing and training to fight. Dwarves have no one single culture or set of beliefs instead each city has its own culture and society. Still there are a few things most dwarves have in common. Society Dwarven society tends to be insular and most dwarves will not trust outsiders but will treat other dwarves as old friends. If an non-dwarf gains the trust of a dwarf then they will have a loyal friend for life. But if you anger or insult a dwarf you will have a enemy for the rest of your life since dwarves never forget and rarely forgive. Values All dwarves have a similar set of core values, although there is some variation between cities. Personal honor is at the core of almost all dwarven beliefs and dwarves will go to great lengths to remain honorable. Most dwarves share a certain gruff bluntness and honesty is highly regarded. Bravery in combat is important to dwarves and there is few things as dishonorable as cowardice. Dwarves have a strong sense of craftsmanship and many will spend there entire lives working a craft and striving to improve their abilities. Most dwarves are trained in the use of weapons and in many dwarven cities military service is mandatory. Food and Drink Dwarves have a great love of good food, beer and tobacco. Each city has its own feast days in which there is much eating, drinking, music and dancing, but even on a normal day the taverns in a dwarven city are always full. Most dwarven families brew their own beer and mead and a good recipe will be passed down for generations. Almost all dwarves know how to cook. Dwarves eat a number of things depending on the city, including food grown on the surface, a huge selection of mushrooms, giant beetles, large bats and mosses. Most fruits and vegetables are considered delicacies and eaten only by the wealthy elites of a city. Tobacco is commonly smoked by dwarves on the surface. Due to their strong lungs, used to taking in smoke and chemicals from the earth, fresh air can be incredibly uncomfortable, even painful, and smoking helps dwarves feel more comfortable on the surface. A good sign that a dwarf was born on the surface is if they do not smoke. Language and Writting There are two forms of written dwarven. A formal runic alphabet that is used for religious writings, inscribed on monuments and used to sign masterwork weapons and armor. Only a select few can read and write runic dwarven and being able to is a sure sign of a noble upbringing, all noble families have a family rune, which is inscribed on their soldiers shields. Along with runic dwarven there is also common dwarven which is known and used by almost all dwarves. Common dwarven is formed from a series of right angles and squares which denote a sound, whereas runic dwarven uses symbols to represent words. Magic Magic is not commonly used by dwarves. Not to say it is unknown for dwarves to use magic but magical abilities are not common. Still dwarves are nothing if not practical and dwarven wizards and healers are highly sought after. Necromancy however is highly taboo and one of only a few crimes that can lead to permanent banishment. Physical Characteristics Dwarven males and females both stand between 3.5 and 4.5 feat tall, with the tallest dwarves being almost five feat tall. Dwarven males tend to be a bit heavier and stockier then their female counterparts, weighing between 180 and 220 pounds as opposed to 160 to 200 pounds that the women tend to weigh. Both male and female dwarves have beards. Male dwarves have long full beards that are often braided, female dwarves either grow full beards or grow their beards into goatees. There is roughly twice as many male dwarves born as female, but there is little gender divide in work as dwarves believe firmly that someone should be judged solely on their merit as a worker. Category:Races